Michael Vaughan feels that Harry Brook is not in the “top bracket” at this point, and that playing in the IPL would have helped his skills against spin.
Brook pulled out of IPL 2025 less than two weeks before the start of the season, leading to reactions on either end of the spectrum. While Mark Butcher defended Brook's withdrawal, Vaughan feels playing the tournament would have been better for the England star.
Vaughan: Brook not in the top bracket yet
"I actually look at Harry Brook’s game and I’m not too sure what’s going on away from the game,” said Vaughan on a Cricbuzz video. “But in terms of his game to develop, you know, we talked about that bracket, that top bracket – Rachin Ravindra is in that bracket – Harry Brook is not in that bracket at the minute.
“To get into that bracket, what does he need to get better at? Playing spin. Playing in India. That’s the one area of his game [he needs to improve]. You look at Pakistan: when it’s flat, he’s been incredible, but as soon as the ball spun in Pakistan, he struggled a little bit.”
On his first tour of Pakistan, in 2022/23, Brook had smashed 468 runs at 93.60 while striking at 93. He hit a hundred in each of the three Tests. In 2024/25, he began with 317, the highest individual Test score for England since Graham Gooch’s 333 in 1990. However, when Pakistan switched to Noman Ali and Sajid Khan on rank turners, he made only 56 runs across four innings.
“Most teams now, you look at him in the One-Day series against India,” continued Vaughan. “The odd fifty, the odd flamboyant 50 innings... but when the ball is just gripping, just grabbing a little bit ... just a few things in his game he just needs to improve upon.”
Brook toured India in early 2025. He did make a 26-ball 51 at Pune, but got only 40 more runs across the other four T20I innings. In the three ODIs, he got only 50 runs at 16.67.
“So I would have thought that playing here in the IPL, particularly given that he’s in the hat to be the T20, white-ball captain,” continued Vaughan. “In a year’s time, there’s a T20 World Cup. Where is it? India and Sri Lanka. You’d have thought that this period here playing in the IPL, for his game personally, could have been a really valuable one.”
The IPL organisers had introduced a new rule ahead of the 2025 auction: cricketers now risk bans for two seasons if they opt out after being picked by the franchise. Despite being picked by the Delhi Capitals, Brook opted out of the 2025 IPL. He may end up missing the 2026 and 2027 editions as a result.
